Ezz to hike steel rebar price in September

Cairo, August 30, 2009

Ezz Steel, Egypt's largest steel producer, will raise the price of rebars in September to 3,000 Egyptian pounds ($543) per tonne from 2,800 pounds in August, the company said on Sunday.

"We usually base our prices on global markets for steel and the cost of raw materials," Kamel Galal, head of investor relations, told Reuters.

Steel rebars are used in construction, such as reinforced concrete Galal also said Ezz Steel had begun selling Turkish steel it imported in June at 2,900 pounds per tonne.

"Our policy is that we will be selling Turkish materials whenever the market requires material that is not immediately available," he said.

Ezz Steel said in June that Turkey was the sole source for rebar imports to Egypt and said Egypt was likely to import 2.5 million tonnes of rebars in 2009.

Steel demand has remained relatively resilient in Egypt because of the need for housing and because its banks steered clear of toxic assets, helping them avoid the worst impact of the credit crunch.

Ezz Steel last week reported a 90 percent drop in net profit in the first half of 2009 but said local demand remained strong. Its first-quarter profits were also down 85 percent, which it blamed on declining steel prices and weak export markets. - Reuters